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It wasn't so much that some people used dirtectory links, article marketing, or exact match domains in an ttempt to get good Google rankings. It was that YOU HAD TODO THAT in most cases in order to rank well, due to the way Google's algorithm was structured.

Sure, you had to have excellent content as well, but the fact is that Google wa (and is) a fairly poor judge of content. Just look at the thousands of sites out there with crapola content, but high rankngs. Consider too, the thousands of sites with fantastic content languishing forever in obscurity. Content was better for building traffic outside of Google.

Now Google is reversing itself. They can do that; they are a private comapny, albeit one that approaches monopoly status.

The real issue is this: 2 + 2 = 4. Google makes most of it's revenue from ads. Forcing business owners to purchase ads will generate revenue for them. Google is also a very large, public corporation and must generate revenue to satisfy shareholders. They do not make any revenue directly from search engine rankings,

Yes, they do maintain a user base by delivering accurate search results, but they must strike a balance between delivering such results and ad buys. They are trying to strike the perfect balance between maintaining their user base and de facto requiring ad purchases that maximizes ad revenue. They can do this by manipulating search algos at different intervals.

This will not stop until it begins to deplete their user base to the point where ad revenue declines. Bing ad campaigns aside, that won't happen any time soon.

As both a small business owner and an SEO provider. I have thankfully done most of my work through what Google recommends. The problem arises when they reward a certain behavior, leaving one little choice but to engage in it, or be left behind, then doing a 180, and penilizing the very same behavior. Think exact match domains, which make perfect sense for smal business owners "seattleplumber.com, stopaleakinseattle.com, etc." and have been used both for branding and seo purposes.

Hopefully Google's users will tire of the shenaginans, if Google's results can no longer be trusted. Unfortunately for those making their livings when their small businesses are found online when people are searching for specific products and services in their area (because no one uses the Yellow Pages any more), it may well be too late.